Welcome to 'Catalectic'!
A brief overview of what to expect here
… is anybody out there?
Welcome to Catalectic: a newsletter for people who read fiction, or at least like the thought of themselves reaching fiction? In other words — broadly speaking — “thoughts inspired by what I’m reading or have read or would like to read when I get around to it.” I figure it’s a theme expansive enough to leave room for the kind of critique and commentary I’ve wanted to write for awhile now and yet forgiving enough to allow for the more scatterbrained thoughts and anecdotes that have defined my writing in the past.
I’m borrowing the title “catalectic” from poetry as a kind of metaphor for the latter.
i. (prosody) a line of verse that lacks a syllable in the last metrical foot
ii. incomplete; partial; not affecting the whole of a substance
(Just don’t ask me to use “catalectic” in a sentence.)
(That’s quite a catalectic line of poetry you’ve got there!)
Subscribers will receive updates in their inbox every other week (ish!) You can always read new posts in Substack’s Reader app if you prefer.
Paid subscriptions are enabled on this newsletter as an optional way to support my work if you feel so moved; they are in no way shape or form expected or required.
If you subscribe today, you can expect to receive a first post from me this Friday morning, June 3rd. I plan on celebrating afterward by cooking the schnitzel recipe scheduled to arrive in my Blue Apron.
(In America 2022, you really have to celebrate the little things.)
A très bientôt,
Alicia
I really admire the name of this Newsletter and your conception of quality storytelling. I was deeply moved even by just spending a few minutes trying to interview you. It makes me wonder at my typically solitary and dull approach to writing and creating online.
When I see people like you who appear to be living life to the full with so much passion and variety of experience, artistry and humanity - I'm humbled that creativity has so many doors as their are people. I cannot even convey this impression easily with words.
There's a soul of writers in the poetry of their freedom of expression, that does not condescend or pretend to be other than what they are, and in your enthusiasm I felt the flame of art and life colliding in the most puissant of kaleidoscopes. I suspect henceforth every time I read your words, I will be reminded quietly of it.
Let's go Catalectic!
yessss, stoked to read your words again!